TWN1013 - The Washington Newspaper October 2013

TWN

OCT. 3-5 OLYMPIA

THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER Vol. 98, No. 10 October 2013

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Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington • www.wnpa.com

Exciting items up for auction We

to n ne ws

Scott Wilson

Josh O’Connor

soundpublishing.com or (425) 339-3007, or Mae Waldron, mwaldron@wnpa.com or (206 ) 634-3838 ext 2.

If you plan to bid on these items and you’re not yet regis-

tered for WNPA’s convention or the Better Newspaper Contest Awards dinner, contact Waldron to arrange late registration.

The bidding starts Oct. 3 and closes at 6 p.m. Oct. 4, at the opening of the awards dinner at the Red Lion Hotel, Olympia.

Proceeds support journalism internships, including scholarships for students or educators who intern at WNPAmember newspapers and for the University of Washington’s legislative reporting interns in Olympia.

Lori Maxim, Vice President of West Sound Operations, respectively.

Both are with Sound Publishing Inc. Jana Stoner, Bill Forhan publisher of the Northern Kittitas County Tribune, will serve a second year as WNPA Past President.

The officers’ reinstallation is set for noon Oct. 4, at WNPA’s

126th Annual Convention in Olympia.

As of late last month, convention registrations indicated a well-balanced group of sessions, with registration counts for Kelly Wirges’ Friday sessions for advertising staffs just ahead of two panels, “Tribal Nations and the Media” and “Ethics and Conflicts.”

If you’ve not yet registered, contact Mae Waldron, mwaldron@wnpa.com or (206) 6343838 ext. 2.

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Sporting Events

WNPA officers’ terms of service revised

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DONATIONS SO FAR

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he 2012-13 officers of Washington Newspaper Publishers Association will serve in their current roles for another year. The change was announced in midSeptember.

In 2009-10 and 2010-11, the same pattern occurred, with officers serving two years in their positions.

Continuing as president is Bill Forhan of NCW Media, Leavenworth.

In first and second vice-presidential roles are Keven Graves of Whidbey News Group and

han

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Proceeds to pay for scholarships and capitol internships

he 2013 WNPA Foundation auction is looking like the best ever, reports Scott Wilson, Foundation President and publisher of the Port Townsend Leader.

Josh O’Connor of Sound Publishing, this year’s auction chairman, has pulled in some new items, including fantastic tickets to three sporting events.

He and Wilson have also secured a variety of weekend getaways, gift baskets and other items.

If you have items to donate, contact O’Connor, joconnor@

Bc

Nine dailies win honors at Blethens ta lk in g et

Money MakeRs

Pulse

RESEA

Four tickets ($704) for the Vancouver Canucks vs.

Minnesota Wild (Feb. 28) donated by Black Press Four tickets ($1200 package) for the Seahawks vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Nov. 3) donated by Sound Publishing Inc. Twelve tickets, six parking passes ($1,000) for the Everett Silvertips in the Silvertips Suite (date tbd) donated by the Everett Herald

Weekend Getaways (various values) Waitsburg, Seven Porches Guest House weekend: WNPA trustee Imbert Matthee, Waitsburg Times South Cle Elum, Caboose Car Suite two-nights’ stay: WNPA Past President Jana Stoner, Northern Kittitas County Tribune Mukilteo, Hogland House: Paul Archipley, 2009-11 WNPA President, Beacon Publishing Port Townsend Weekend package: Scott Wilson, 2002 WNPA President, Port Townsend Leader Stay-and-play golf weekend: Dani Fournier, Grandview Herald and Prosser Record-Bulletin

See AUCTION, page 4

SIGN OF A WINNER

Justin Burnett/Whidbey News-Times, Oak Harbor

‘I love the framing and the depth of field in this photography. It is as important to read the words on the sign as it is to see the sign maker’s expression,’ wrote the judge. In the 2012 Washington Better Newspaper Contest, first place for Best General News Photo, Circulation Groups III & IV Combined, went to Justin Burnett of the Whidbey News-Times, Oak Harbor.

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Associated Press

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he Oregonian won three first-place honors in the 2013 C.B. Blethen Memorial Awards for distinguished newspaper reporting, while the Seattle Times, the Columbian of Vancouver, Wash., and the Herald of Everett each won two.

The awards were presented Sept. 19 at the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association (PNNA) in Seattle. They are given in memory of the man who published the Seattle Times from 1915 until his death in 1941.

PNNA daily newspaper members in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Alaska, Alberta and British Columbia are eligible to enter the contest, which is administered independently of the Seattle Times by PNNA. Judges are news executives from daily newspapers outside the PNNA area and are not affiliated with PNNA member groups.

All entrants, regardless of circulation, compete for the special Debby Lowman Award for distinguished reporting of consumer affairs, which honors the Times’ consumer-affairs reporter who died of cancer in 1978.

2013 winners Deadline Reporting • Under 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Columbian for “County shocker: Benton tapped for top environmental job” by Erik Hidle; 2nd Place, Post Register, Idaho Falls, Idaho, for “Faces from the fire” by Zach Kyle.

• Over 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Seattle Times for “Skagit River Bridge Collapse” by Seattle Times staff; 2nd Place, Seattle Times for “Cafe Racer” by Seattle Times staff.

Enterprise Reporting • Under 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Columbian for “CRC Fallout, Competing Political Wills Block the Way” by Aaron Corvin and Eric Florip.

2nd Place, Daily News, Longview, Wash., for “Death of an Informant, by Tony Lystra.

• Over 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Spokesman-Review for “The New American Dream” by Becky Kramer and Kathy Plonka.

2nd Place, Oregonian for “Suicide Bridge” by David Stabler and Beth Nakamura.

Feature Writing See BLETHENS, page 7

2

OCTOBER 2013

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Funk set the mold for a community publisher

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t’s been more than two decades since Wallie Funk retired after many years as co-publisher of the Whidbey News-Times, but his legacy thrives, not only through this community newspaper, but through his art donation over Labor Day weekend to the City of Oak Harbor.

Anyone who knows Wallie recognizes his distinctive booming voice instantly — if it doesn’t shake the rafters, it certainly should.

Wallie’s donation of a sculpture to the city was announced at the opening night of the Oak Harbor Music Festival.

In addition to several decades worth of newspapers and photographs chronicling the community during a different time in history, the sculpture is just one more of Wallie’s many generous and meaningful contributions

to this community.

Some of those gifts may be less tangible than a sculpture, but all are nonetheless Keven invaluable.

For those Graves Executive Editor who don’t and Publisher, know Wallie, Whidbey News he was Times, co-owner of Oak Harbor the Whidbey News-Times and South Whidbey Record in Langley for more than 30 years with co-publisher John Webber.

I had the good fortune of meeting Wallie while working on my high school newspaper, and the even better fortune of having him as a mentor and role model, a relationship that

remains intact to this day.

Over the years, Wallie was one of the most highly regarded leaders in Oak Harbor. When he took you to lunch in town, it took half an hour to get to the table because he had hands to shake, backs to pat and stories to share.

If he realized how important he was, it wasn’t something he lorded over anyone. I suspect that, even to this day, he would laugh robustly at the very notion he did anything but what a newspaper publisher was supposed to be doing.

Longtime readers of the News-Times may remember Wallie’s weekly column, “Whidbey Wrap Up.” It was a mixture of local items of note, politics and humorous observances.

Along with the lighter items in his column, there were fas-

cinating glimpses into Wallie’s world.

In October 1980, for example, Wallie wrote in his column that then-state Attorney General Slade Gorton dropped in, “tieless and shirtsleeves,” seeking support in his bid to unseat veteran Sen. Warren Magnuson.

Many local, state and federal politicians, as well as countless other community leaders, took a seat in Wallie’s wood-paneled office over the years, probably distracted as I once was by the countless photos, awards and mounted cross-section of a tail hook that hung on the wall behind his desk.

And, like me, they were probably seeking his approval.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it was critical to win Wallie’s support if a politician hoped to have any chance of winning the votes of Whidbey

residents, especially on the north end of the island.

To this day, I have no idea about Wallie’s personal politics. I don’t know whether he is Republican or Democrat.

It never mattered. Any conversations we had about politics always centered around a candidate’s character and ethics, and whether they were truly the best choice to represent the people of Whidbey Island.

For me, Wallie’s ability to remain above the fray, focus on what’s best for the community, and take the path that he believed to be right is a valuable lesson for all community newspaper publishers.

Keven R. Graves is editor and publisher of the Whidbey NewsTimes, Oak Harbor. He can be reached by email at kgraves@ whidbeynewsgroup.com.

CORRECTION In the September 2013 edition of The Washington Newspaper the story on sex-offender notification on page 5 should have been attributed to the Tri-City Herald, Kennewick. We regret the error.

Officers: President: Bill Forhan, NCW Media, Leavenworth l First Vice President: Keven Graves, Whidbey News Group, Coupeville l Second Vice President: Lori Maxim, Sound Publishing l Past President: Jana Stoner, Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum l Secretary: Bill Will, WNPA, Seattle Trustees: Josh Johnson, Liberty Lake Splash, Liberty Lake l Eric LaFontaine, Othello Outlook l Imbert Matthee, Waitsburg Times l Don Nelson, Methow Valley News, Twisp l Stephen McFadden, Ritzville-Adams County Journal l Fred Obee, Port Townsend Leader Staff: Executive Director: Bill Will l Editor/Manager of Member Services: Mae Waldron

Officers: President: Rob Blethen, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Treasurer: Christine Fossett, Chronicle, Centralia Board: Nathan Alford, Moscow-Pullman Daily News l Tyler Miller, Daily Record, Ellensburg l Heather Hernandez, Skagit Valley Herald, Mount Vernon l Dave Zeeck, News Tribune, Tacoma Executive Director: Rowland Thompson THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER is the official publication of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. It is published monthly

by WNPA, 12354 30th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98125, phone (206) 6343838. Email: mwaldron@wnpa.com; URL: www.wnpa.com, in conjunction with Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington, P.O. Box 29, Olympia, WA 98507, (360) 943-9960. Email: anewspaper@aol.com.

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OCTOBER 2013

OPEN ACCESS & LEGAL ISSUES

AG pledges full-time ombudsman UW to pay $720,000 Vow follows departure of official from job as part-time position

The Olympian

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ttorney General Bob Ferguson says he will hire a full-time employee devoted to government transparency.

The job of open-government ombudsman is vacant after the departure of Tim Ford, who did the job part time. Ferguson had said he planned to hire a replacement. On Sept. 16, he told the so-called Sunshine

Battle Ground board ‘apologizes’ for secret deal

The Columbian, Vancouver

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he Battle Ground school board acknowledged last month that it violated the public’s trust in its handling of the departure of Superintendent Shonny Bria.

Bria left in June with a severance package of more than $400,000 that had been negotiated behind closed doors two months earlier. The board kept the agreement a secret, even going so far as to tell staff and the public that Bria would get no payouts other than her accumulated sick leave. A state accountability audit is expected to determine whether board members violated the state’s public records and open meetings laws.

District administrators have requested the audit, which may happen by late September, said Lynn Hicks, the district’s acting deputy superintendent.

Meanwhile, board members have dealt with criticism from the Battle Ground community, although John Idsinga, board president, said he thought “most of it has calmed down.”

On Aug. 27, the district released a letter written by the school board at its meeting the previous night.

The letter states: “In recent weeks, lack of transparency has caused us to violate the trust of those we serve. Late last spring, we believed it was in the best interest of Battle Ground Schools to support Shonny Bria’s desire to retire so the district could transition to new leadership. …

Unfortunately, as we navigated the leadership transition, we failed in our responsibility to openly share the facts.”

How the school board came to decide upon releasing a letter isn’t clear.

The letter was not on the regular meeting agenda, and there was no indication in the public portion of the meeting that a letter was going to be discussed.

Idsinga confirmed that the letter was not discussed during the regular board meeting.

Instead, after the agenda was completed, the board went into executive session to discuss undisclosed personnel issues.

Idsinga said the discussion See BOARD, page 6

Committee on open-records that he would make it a fulltime job.

His office began a search the same day to fill the post.

“In my view, it’s one of the most important functions we have in our office,” said Ferguson, a Democrat. “It’s been a goal of mine from day one.”

The job involves giving advice to agencies, local governments and the public on open-meetings law and publicrecords law. It was full time when then-Attorney General Rob McKenna created it, but McKenna cut it back to part

time in July 2011 after budget cuts.

Ferguson said he found the money to reinstate it in part by eliminating vacant positions in his office. He said he is also giving some raises to attorneys whose wages have been frozen for years.

State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, a member of the Sunshine Committee, said it would have been politically difficult for Ferguson to avoid reinstating the full-time post.

“But I was sure he would, and I’m glad that he did,” Roach said. “That was the right thing to do.”

Judge rules city of Marysville violated public records law The Herald, Everett

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The consulting firm already had been hired by the city to lobby on transportation and other issues and had been paid a flat rate of $7,500 per year for all the combined work, according to city administrator Gloria Hirashima.

Last year, Cedar Grove filed a public disclosure request with the city for all written communications with Strategies 360 related to the composting company. The city supplied most of the emails but withheld a number of them, claiming they were exempt from public disclosure because of attorneyclient privilege. The emails contained discussions of legal strategy, Hirashima said.

Okrent ruled that 15 of those emails did not meet that standard. Though Marysville released the emails before Cedar Grove filed the lawsuit, the city should have released them sooner, the judge ruled.

The emails contained possible strategies and approaches, some of which the city used and some it didn’t, Hirashima said. For example, the city acted on the consultants’ suggestion to have city

he city of Marysville was ordered Sept.

9 by a judge to pay more than $143,000 to Cedar Grove Composting for violations of the state public disclosure law.

The Everett composting company last year sued Marysville in Snohomish County Superior Court over the city’s withholding of emails between it and a consultant.

In an unusual move, Judge Richard T. Okrent also ruled that the city should have disclosed emails related to Cedar Grove that were sent internally at the consulting firm, Strategies 360.

Cedar Grove officials did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The city of Marysville, the Tulalip Tribes and many who live in Marysville and Everett have been battling Cedar Grove for several years over allegations that the company’s Smith Island plant has been emitting offensive odors in the area.

Strategies 360 was performing public relations work for Marysville related to the See MARYSVILLE, page 6 issue.

fine in records case Judge levies penalty for withholding files in lawsuit over bias

The Seattle Times

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King County judge has fined the University of Washington more than $720,000 for withholding 12,000 pages of public records from a professor who believed she was wrongfully denied tenure at the Tacoma branch campus.

After the professor lost a discrimination case in federal court, records turned up that might have helped her press a case that she was discriminated against because she is French, according to the Sept. 11 ruling

by King County Superior Court Judge Monica Benton.

Among the documents were some that “contained derogatory references about her French national origin,” according to a summary of the case posted by the plaintiff’s attorney, Jack Sheridan, on his firm’s website.

UW officials said they disagree with the findings, as well as the method by which the penalty was calculated, and would likely appeal the decision.

The professor, Isabelle Bichindaritz, worked at the UW-Tacoma’s Institute of Technology from 2002 to 2010 and applied for tenure three times in the computer-science department, in which all tenured faculty were male, according to her attorney.

Sheridan could not be reached for comment.

Bichindaritz was denied promotion and tenure in 2009, and believed she had been discriminated against because of her gender and national origin, Sheridan wrote.

In 2009, she requested from the UW a complete copy of her personnel file to press a discrimination case in federal district court.

According to the ruling, the university knew Bichindaritz had filed an Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission complaint, and later a federal lawsuit. Yet the UW delayed producing documents until after federal deadlines in the case had passed.

UW spokesman Norm Arkans said the UW believes it produced the records on time, but that Bichindaritz did not pick them up promptly.

“The judge drew conclusions that we just don’t agree with,” he said.

“We believe we processed the case appropriately, in compliance with all our obligations under the public-records law.”

Benton found that the records, which were produced in four stages, were delayed in delivery anywhere from 70 to 160 days.

The judge also found that several documents that were redacted — meaning portions were blacked out — should not have been.

In other instances, the UW withheld entire documents instead of redacting those portions that it believed were exempt from disclosure, the judge found.

One of those documents was an email between two faculty members that said someone on Bichindaritz’s tenure committee “hinted that we might be picking on Isabelle’s teaching because she is a woman.”

The document’s “absence in the federal litigation permitted the university to argue in the federal litigation that no one had complained that she was a victim of gender discrimination,” Benton found.

Because that document was printed in 2009 but not produced until after a court deadline of June 2011, it is “highly illustrative of intentional delay,” she said.

Benton calculated a fine of 50 cents per day, per record, or $723,290.

Arkans said the UW disagrees with the way she calculated the fine.

Low-level sex offenders face records release Judge rules against request, but 400 left unprotected Tri-City Herald

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he majority of low-level sex offenders in Benton County could have their personal information released in the coming weeks.

About 400 offenders who have not hired attorneys were left unprotected Sept. 13 when Judge Bruce Spanner ruled against a class-action lawsuit.

The move would have given the offenders legal representation and temporarily blocked the release of their personal information, which includes their names, pictures and addresses.

Twenty-one Level 1 offenders hired attorneys after Donna Zink of Mesa requested the offenders’ personal information from Benton and Franklin

counties under the state’s public records law.

Zink requested the information July 15 and said she plans to post it on the Internet.

Information about higher-risk offenders, ranked a Level 2 and 3, is readily available to the public, but not for Level 1 offenders.

Lawsuits have been filed on the offenders’ behalf, temporarily putting the release of their personal information on hold.

A ruling on whether their information will be released could come in October.

Benton County is planning on releasing the other offenders’ information within three weeks of the ruling, said Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Lukson.

Greg Dow, who filed a motion to lead the class-action lawsuit, believes Spanner’s ruling is unfair to offenders and creates a headache for county officials, he said.

“I don’t understand how you protect 20 people with lawyers and leave 400 people outside the stream of justice,” said Dow, a Richland attorney. “It’s just so offensive.”

Zink, who declined to comment to the Herald, already has received similar offender information from Franklin County.

She also has requested a list of all Benton County sex offenders, letters the county sent to offenders notifying them of her request and the list of names the county used to send the letters.

Zink recently requested Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative forms and victim impact statements, Lukson said. The forms and statements contain offenders’ personal information.

“She is very creative,” Lukson said.” She is just asking for the same information in different manners as she is entitled

to do. It has added a complexity to the case that we are having to address these new records requests even though it is for the same information.”

Lukson will notify attorneys representing the offenders of Zink’s request, he said.

The county is not prepared to release the new information requested by Zink.

During the Sept. 13 hearing, Dow told Judge Bruce Spanner he was willing to lead the class-action lawsuit pro bono.

He also stated he was prepared to donate $10,000 in legal costs if the class-action lawsuit was allowed.

“I just feel there is something tugging at me on this case,” Dow said.

After listening to objections from Zink and two other attorneys representing offenders, Spanner ruled against Dow. See RELEASE, page 4

4

Miller makes his move to Montana

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OCTOBER 2013

RELEASE

yler Miller, publisher of the Daily Record in Ellensburg, has accepted a position as publisher of two of Lee Enterprises’ Montana dailies, the Montana Standard in Butte and the Helena Independent Record.

He will oversee both newspapers, while Lynn Lloyd will continue as general manager in Butte.

He succeeds Randy Rickman, who resigned in Tyler Miller May. Miller, 34, has been publisher in Ellensburg since 2010, and previously served as the newspaper’s advertising manager.

His career also includes stints at Colorado Community Newspapers, where he managed retail, classified and digital advertising, and at the Idaho Statesman in Boise, where he was a sales and marketing executive.

A marketing graduate of Brigham Young University, he also served as the retail and online sales manager for the Daily Universe, BYU’s student newspaper.

He plans to relocate to Helena with his wife, Carrie, and their four children later this month.

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from page 3

the records on the people who Spanner said he had were not in court today.” concerns about whether Dow could adequately protect the For Dow to represent the interest of the offenders while rest of the offenders -- someworking for free, he said. He thing he said he is passionate also stated the class-action about -- he must try and join would take away the Benton them together. Dow said County Sheriff’s Office’s he didn’t know if he could discretion to release offender ethically make an attempt to information to the public. contact the offenders.

The sheriff’s office can “How do I contact people release low-level sex offender who I don’t know who they information upon request if of- are or that I don’t have any ficials feel it is immediate and information about?” he said. necessary to protect the public. “The class was going to solve The county, represented by that by saying everybody in Lukson, was in favor of the this particular group of sex class-action case. offenders is in.”

“We wanted 400 and some sex offenders to be treated FIND YOUR 25-HOUR DAY equally,” Lukson said. “We My 50 years on 15 small publications can help you: think the (offenders’) informa• sell more ads & subs tion is releasable under the • simplify operations Public Records Act. Either way • avoid bricks through your window Spanner ruled, we wanted to • start/improve your website Jay Becker make sure it applied to everyCommunity Consulting body. The way it currently sits we’re going to have to give out jaybecker@aol.com — (206) 790-9457

our

AUCTION

from page 1

Creative Gift Baskets and More (various values) Debbie Berto, 1999 WNPA President, Issaquah Press, Sammamish Review, SnoValley Star WNPA President Bill Forhan, NCW Media, Leavenworth Don Nelson, WNPA trustee, Methow Valley News, Twisp

Assunta Ng, Northwest Asian Weekly, Seattle Christine Fossett and Michael Wagar, Nisqually Valley News, Yelm Sound Publishing Inc., Whidbey Island Jerry Gay, Photographer, “Lull in the Battle” poster, “Seeing Reality” and “Our Road to Peace”

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OCTOBER 2013

Sites to behold: Papers upgrade their web presences

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ummer saw a range of website updates by daily and weekly newspapers, all targeted toward improved reader experience, with more stories, more white space, more social media options, and more.

McClatchy upgrades Washington websites

News Tribune, Olympian The cleaner, less-cluttered version of thenewstribune.com that launched in late August provides a home page with streamlined drop-down menus at the top and a bar across the bottom offering easy access to TNT’s apps, an email newsletter and social media connections.

Completing the frame are a “Top Stories” column on the left, and on the right, a mix of advertising and links to the most popular stories, photos and videos.

In the center of this frame are a photo-illustrated story above headlines to two other stories and their lead sentences.

Throughout is ample white space that supports the cleaner look.

Because the new site accommodates more photo-illustrated stories than the staff photographers can get to, reporters were trained to take photos and videos on newly provided smartphones and iPads.

And instead of relying on a web master and a few editors to post stories, the entire newsroom staff can post stories on the upgraded site.

Those posts are nearly instantaneous now, an improvement that’s highly valued when covering breaking news.

About a month after the

puyallupherald.com

Sister weeklies Puyallup Herald (LEFT) and Peninsula Gateway have ugraded their webistes and added functionality. launch, TNT announced to readers that it was shifting the website’s comment process to Facebook. Based on experience over the past two years, when readers could make comments to TNT blogs only through their Facebook accounts, it expects that requiring real names will improve the quality of comments.

“We know we will lose a few commenters because of this change, but we’re willing to do so to improve the conversation,” TNT Executive Editor Karen Peterson said in a Sept. 15 column.

Ian Swenson, TNT’s digital team leader, worked with specialists

from McClatchy Interactive to develop the site. User testing guided choices on story and ad placement, sectioning and other issues.

Subscriptions to TNT and the Olympian are sold online for $1.83 per week (includes print and online) and 99 cents a month (digital-only). Non-subscribers can view 15 pages per 30-day period for free.

Sister weeklies

The Peninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor and Puyallup Herald, sister weeklies to the TNT and Olympian, benefit from all the new functions as well.

Brian McLean, editor and pub-

lisher of the two weeklies, in his column previewed the elements most readers might notice first.

“What you’ll see is what you would expect from a newspaper: A clean, black-on-white typeface design that places a higher value on photography and emphasis on our top stories.”

The weeklies’ sites, gateline. com and puyallupherald.com, eliminated “color schemes that were cool several years ago but have really lost their luster,” and have an improved search function and more visible links to customer service, where vacation holds can be requested.

Subscriptions in Pierce and

Great �lassi�eds are

Closer than you think

Kitsap counties cost $35 for the Gateway and $18 for the Herald; $50 and $45 for out-of-county locations, respectively, and more out of state.

Port Townsend-Jefferson County Leader

Port Townsend Leader’s new website, its third in about 21 years, puts much more online — a tripling of news content, Publisher Scott Wilson told readers.

The new ptleader.com also includes more social media opportunities, improved calendar listings with a top-five event See SITES, page 6

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recommendations for each week, and a reader-comment function that requires commenters to register and use their real names.

Only subscribers can comment. Comments are selfpolicing, and readers can flag egregious ones for deletion by the Leader staff.

Other features invite participation by nonprofits and local businesses, which can post press releases to the home page for a modest monthly fee. Also for a modest monthly fee, businesses can upgrade their free listing in the regional business directory to a mini-website.

The free directory is outside ptleader.com’s paywall, along with classified ads, blogs, magazines, and LeaderGrafix, the newspaper’s

MARYSVILLE

marketing and design arm.

Launched July 3, the new site was open to all throughout the summer, though each month the number of free stories dropped until the ongoing limit of five per month was reached in September.

Subscriptions cost $46 per year and include print, eEdition and website access.

Online-only subscriptions can be purchased by the week ($1), and in other increments up to a half year.

Sound Publishing Inc.

Sound Publishing updated the websites of its newspapers beginning in late August.

In addition to reworking the home page so it features more stories and photographs, the design provides easier access for readers

on the go.

A new multi-layered navigation bar lets readers select quickly from news menus and advertising sections and also use mobile apps and social media to share stories and news with others.

Also new is a series of options below story bylines, allowing readers to email the story, print it or send a letter to the editor about it.

Along with the new design, the newspapers changed how they handle letters to the editor.

The first few paragraphs of an edition’s letters are in the print version and complete letters are online.

The sites continue to organize news stories on the home page from newest to oldest, with photos, summaries and larger head-

BOARD

from page 3

and Tulalip tribal leaders send letters to elected officials, she said.

The emails also revealed that the city and Strategies 360 helped residents write letters to newspapers and with other activities, such as applying for grants, according to the original complaint by Cedar Grove.

Hirashima said there’s nothing wrong with that in itself.

“We had literally hundreds of citizens asking us for help on this issue,” she said.

Mike Davis, leader of the Cedar Grove opposition group Citizens for a Smell Free Snohomish County, acknowledged he had help with letter writing but said he took the initiative.

“Any implications that we were created by the city of Marysville or that they ran the citizens group is not true,” he said. “I went to my elected officials as

any citizen should. We were offered and gladly accepted help from the city. Fix the smell, I go away, it’s that simple.”

Also, Okrent ruled the city was negligent in failing to track down 19 other emails in response to Cedar Grove’s disclosure request.

Marysville also should have released internal Strategies 360 emails pertaining to Cedar Grove, the judge wrote in the ruling signed on Sept. 9. The firm was acting as an employee of the city on the matter, he said.

“Marysville knew what Strategies was doing, paid them for those activities, was generally aware that there were documents in Strategies’ possession created during those activities, and discussed the contents of some of those documents with Strategies,” Okrent wrote.

lines on top stories and smaller headlines as the stories move lower on the page.

“We’ve improved the presentation of the story,” said Seth Long, director of digital media for Sound Publishing. “The typography is better, it’s easier to read, it’s easier to find sharing tools and it’s easier to find related and trending content,” he said.

Sound Publishing’s free newspapers are using the new design, though its subscription-based publications share a slightly different upgrade.

The company launched its previous web design in 2010.

Stanwood-Camano News

Stanwood-Camano News debuted updates of both its print product and its website in mid-July.

Using Editor Kelly Ruhoff’s term, the print edition got a facelift, with a fresh logo and fonts creating a clean and pleasing design.

Online at scnews.com, readers see news stories shown in order of priority and can use specific dropdown menus to jump straight to the sections of their interest. Other changes include concise calendar listings, a more searchable archives and a contemporary look.

The paper implemented a paywall on scnews.com in late 2007, when it began providing a pdf of the complete newspaper online.

Previously, it had a minimal web presence and offered only a few news stories, obituaries and the classifieds.

Subscription rates are $33 for print and online, $20 for online.

from page 3

lasted longer than planned, and when the board emerged from its secret session, everyone else had left.

At that point, board members discussed and signed the open letter to school district patrons, Idsinga said.

“The letter was drafted by the board. We all had input into it over a period of time,” Idsinga said. The board had first discussed writing the letter “weeks ago,” Idsinga said. He noted that it was brought up after Bria’s June 30 departure.

“Last night, we put the sentences together and signed it,” he said.

The letter was released the day after the meeting by Gregg Herrington, the district’s communications director.

When asked whether he considers the letter an apology, Idsinga said, “Yes.” “We are all volunteers. We aren’t professionals,” Idsinga said. “There are some things you learn as you go.”

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OCTOBER 2013

PNNA announces winners of Connelly awards

Awards honor environmental reporting entries

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inners of the 2013 Dolly Connelly Award for Excellence in Environmental Reporting were announced during the

PNNA meeting.

The Daily News in Longview received first place for “Mining Near Mount St. Helens”, by Natalie St. John. Peter Jackson, editorial page editor of the Herald in Everett, wrote of this entry: “Excellent investigative work, historical context, and semi-potential for influencing de-

ciders. The consummate Western narrative that will end with a predictable thud. Wallace Stegner would have appreciated it.”

The News Tribune in Tacoma won second place for Rob Carson’s project “As Tides Creep Up, Some Just Look Away.” One judge commented on this series: “We hear many

claims about what impact climate change will have on our water-dependent region. This series is the most comprehensive yet on a potential impact.”

All judges remarked; “Very impressive reporting.”

The judges said this year’s entries were some of the best, with the winners separated by

7

a thin margin.

The award was established in 1995, endowed by Seattle PostIntelligencer columnist/writer Joel Connelly and P-I publisher J.D. Alexander. It honors Dolly Connelly (1913-95), a longtime Northwest writer who covered the birth of the region’s conservation movement.

State photographers take high honors at AP Northwest

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ashington’s winners in the 2013 Associated Press Northwest photo contest, announced Sept. 19 in Seattle at the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association, include photographers from six daily newspapers.

This year’s winner of the Cowles trophy is Kai-Huei Yau, Tri-City Herald for “Football Campaign.” The Trophy has been awarded each year since 1952, and is named for William Hutchison Cowles, former

publisher of the SpokesmanReview.

The Blackburn award went to Kyle Green of the Idaho Statesman in Nampa for an untitled image (Cross and Moon). The award is named for Keith Blackburn, a photographer with Columbian newspaper of Vancouver, who was killed in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Following are Washington’s winners in the AP Northwest’s two-division contest.

Photographers for the TriCity Herald in Kennewick were among Washington’s winners in the AP Northwest’s annual photo contest. Bob Brawdy’s shot of a dog hotfooting it from the scene of a house fire (LEFT), and Rich Dickin’s photo of a man relaxing on an air mattress with two much cooler pooches were among the Herald’s six winning entries.

AP NORTHWEST PHOTOGRAPHY WINNERS Non-Metro Division Bellingham Herald Portrait 3rd: Andy Bronson, “Hay Shirt” Kitsap Sun, Bremerton Feature — 1st Place: Larry Steagall, “Nine Eleven” Tri-City Herald, Kennewick News 2nd: Bob Brawdy, “Dog Escapes House Fire” Feature 2nd: Rich Dickin, “Raft Dogs” Sports 2nd: Kai-Huei Yau, “Untitled” Sports 3rd: Kai-Huei Yau, “Untitled” Portrait 1st: Kai-Huei Yau, “Untitled” Multiple/Photo Story1st: Kai-Huei Yau, “Football Campaign”

LEFT: Bob Brawdy; Below: Rich Dickin / Tri-City Herald, Kennewick

Metro Division Olympian Feature 3rd: Tony Overman, “Hubble” Seattle Times Portrait 1st: Alan Berner, “Beard Champion” Multiple/Photo Story 2nd: Alan Berner, “Gum Wall” Sports 2nd: Bettina Hansen, “Rainy Victory” Multiple/Photo Story 3rd: Erika Schultz, “Landesa” Spokesman-Review, Spokane News 2nd: Colin Mulany, “Reflection of a fire” News 3rd: Dan Pelle, “Dirty Job.” Multiple/Photo Story 1st: Kathy Plonka, “Little Victories.”

From a Sept. 19 Associated Press story.

blethen

from page 1

• Under 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Everett Herald for “A fragile balance” by Eric Stevick.

2nd Place, Everett Herald for “After cancer, a ‘canvas’ for art” by Gail Fiege.

• Over 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Oregonian for “Two Oregon teenagers, a basketball and the moment the game becomes secondary” by Anna Griffin and Rob Finch.

2nd Place, Seattle Times for “Missing” by Maureen O’Hagan.

Investigative Reporting • Under 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Everett Herald for “The collapse of Aaron Reardon” by Noah Haglund and Scott North.

2nd Place, Post Register, Idaho Falls, Idaho for “Blackfoot School District payout scandal” by Nate

Sutherland.

• Over 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Oregonian for “Oregon PERS” by Ted Sickinger.

2nd Place, Seattle Times for “Glamour Beasts: The dark side of elephant captivity”

by Michael J. Berens.

Distinguished Coverage of Diversity: • Under 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Anchorage Daily

News for “The things that happen: Two boys and cancer,” by Julia O’Malley; 2nd Place, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Bozeman, Mont., for “The Immigrants Among us,” by Whitney Bermes, Laura Lundquist, Gail Schontzler and Jodi Hausen.

• Over 50,000 circulation: 1st Place, Oregonian with “Locked Out,” by Brad Schmidt;

2nd Place, Oregonian with “Invisible Nations, Enduring Ills,” by Bill Graves.

Debby Lowman Award • (Combined divisions) 1st Place, Seattle Times for “Why you might pay twice for one visit to doctor” by Carol Ostrom.

2nd Place, Columbian for “Operation protect your skin” by Marissa Harshman.

8

OCTOBER 2013

TWN

career moves n Kate Prengaman joined the editorial staff of the Yakima Herald-Republic, where she is covering natural resource issues and the Yakama Nation.

Prengaman, who in May completed a yearlong reporting internship at the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, has a master’s degree in science journalism from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She also has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and has worked public sector jobs in forestry, ecology and botany. She has done freelance reporting for several science news publications. Madison McCord, a recent graduate of the University of Idaho, is a new digital media producer at the Herald-Republic. He is expanding current projects and creating new interactive media. Follow him at twitter. com/YHRMadison. A Spokane native, McCord changed his major from business to journalism after working on the school newspaper, the Argonaut. For the university’s athletic department, he was a play-by-play announcer for the women’s basketball team. Rafael Guerrero is the Herald-Republic’s new education reporter. He received a bachelor’s degree in news and editorial journalism from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and this spring, a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. While earning his master’s, for six months he was a reporting intern for the Chicago Tribune, covering state government.

He also interned at the Daily

Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill. and produced multimedia stories for the Champaign News-Gazette. n In the San Juan Islands, Gail Anderson-Toombs retired after seven years of administration and circulation management for three weekly newspapers, Islands’ Sounder in Eastsound, the Journal of the San Juan Islands, of Friday Harbor, and Islands’ Weekly on Lopez Island. Her successor, Nicole Matisse Duke, moved to Orcas Island in 2011 and has been involved in local projects at Doe Bay and Orcas Center.

Duke is handling circulation and administration. Cali Bagby was promoted to editor and sales rep of the Islands’ Weekly.

Phil Hankins joined the San Juan group as a sales representative. Though his territory is predominantly Anacortes, he also serves the Weekly and Sounder. n Cary Rosenbaum is the new media services manager for the Colville Confederated Tribes, which includes serving as managing editor of the Tribal Tribune. Most recently he was a sportswriter for the Coeur d’Alene Press in Idaho.

Previously he was managing editor of the Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle. n Carrie Radcliff has been promoted to retail sales manager of the Herald in Everett and the Herald Business Journal.

A public relations graduate of Central Washington University, Radcliff worked in news, advertising and composing at CWU’s Observer newspaper. She joined the newspaper as a paid intern and subsequently was hired as an advertising assistant. Since then, she has worked

in classified private party and real estate ads. She and her husband have two teenagers, Madison and Kendall. n Eric Williams, who covered the Seahawks for the News Tribune in Tacoma since 2008, has left the newspaper for a job with ESPN covering the San Diego Chargers. Williams grew up in Tacoma and joined the paper in 2006. Executive Editor Karen Peterson announced his departure, saying, “In his time at the TNT, Williams has been at the forefront of multimedia coverage, providing video, audio and online chats. He made the Seahawks Insider blog a must-read for football fans and provided great stories, too.”

Todd Dybas is moving from the University of Washington Huskies beat to fill Williams’s shoes, and Christian Caple takes over the Huskies beat.

Caple is a University of Washington graduate and has been covering the Washington State Cougars for two years for the Spokesman-Review in Spokane. n At the Renton Reporter, Brian Beckley was promoted from assistant editor to editor, succeeding Dean A. Radford, who was named editor of the Tukwila Reporter. “I live in Renton and to be the editor of my local paper is a dream come true for a journalist,” said Beckley, who lives in North Renton with his wife Emily. Beckley’s journalism experience includes serving as interim editor of the CourierHerald newspapers in Bonney Lake and Enumclaw and two years as a reporter for the Kent Reporter. n Jon Manley, a recent graduate of Gonzaga

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University, joined the Peninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor as a reporter. He is covering the Peninsula School District and city, county and state government as it is applicable to the Gig Harbor and Key peninsulas. Manley grew up in Tacoma and graduated from Bellarmine Preparatory School.

He succeeds Brett Davis, reporter with the Gateway since November 2011, who left the newspaper to accept a position as public relations specialist with the Washington Farm Bureau in Lacey. Reporter Will Livesley-O’Neill has also left the Gateway to pursue his dream of national service.

Livesley-O’Neill joined AmeriCorps and moved to Austin, Texas. He had been with the paper since late 2012. n The Monroe Monitor hired Scott Freshman as an ad sales representative. His background includes six years each with the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce and the phone directory publisher Yellow Book.

He and his wife have a son, 22, and a daughter, 20. Freshman discovered an interest in community theater while attending UCLA and enjoys performing in local productions at the historic Everett Theater. He succeeds Deb Robinson, who left the newspaper after more than 20 years. Elana Pigeon, a communications major at Western Washington University, and Jesse Kline, interned on the Monitor’s editorial staff this summer. Pigeon received the Monitor’s first-ever communications scholarship last year. n Seraine Page is a new reporter at the Central Kitsap Reporter in Silverdale and the Bremerton Patriot. She also

writes for the monthly Veteran’s Life. She has five years’ experience in newspaper reporting.

As a freelancer, she has had features published in the Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, and worked as an online content editor for Expedia. After graduating from the University of Florida, Page was an education and county reporter for the Coastal Courier in Hinesville, Ga. She moved to the Northwest last year, after her husband, Tyler Berube, finished training at the Naval Weapons Station. He is stationed in Bremerton. n The Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake promoted Jessica Huntley to its bookkeeper position, where she is responsible for handling customers’ billing questions and collections. She joined the newspaper in inside sales about two years ago and later became responsible for obituaries and legal notices. She succeeds Jennifer Zickler, who left to work at Bishop Spray Services, where her husband is part owner. n Ed Waterman has joined Sound Publishing as a marketing rep for the North Kitsap Herald in Poulsbo and Kingston Community News. He grew up in Kingston, graduated from North Kitsap High School, and holds a degree in marketing and psychology from the University of Washington. His career includes sales and management positions with Hewlett Packard, UPS, and Transworld Systems.

Most recently he was a vice president at Seattle Art, Inc. and CEO of Entertainment Northwest. He succeeds Catherine Darkenwald, who moved to Kansas.

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TWN

OCTOBER 2013

RIGHT ON TARGET

9

Ben Watanabe/South Whidbey Record, Langley

Ben Watanabe won first place for the South Whidbey Record in Langley with this shot taken at an archery event offered by the South Whidbey Parks & Recreation District. Watanabe earned his award in the Best Black and White Sports Photo category for Circulation Group II in the 2012 Washington Better Newspaper Contest.

NAA hails new shield law Newspaper Association of America

C

aroline H. Little, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, issued the following statement Sept. 12 in response to the passage of the Free Flow of Information Act by the Senate Judiciary Committee: “The Newspaper Association of America applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee for passing this shield law, which is a critical first step toward protecting the public’s right to know.

As recent events have clearly demonstrated, it is essential to protect both the freedom of the press and our national

security through a balanced law that applies across all federal circuits. This bill will preserve the integrity of the news gathering process while still ensuring effective law enforcement. We believe this legislation deserves the continued bipartisan support of Congress, as it received in previous years.”

The Act (S. 987) will codify the updated Department of Justice guidelines and require the government to obtain journalists’ records only with court approval, protecting journalists in civil and criminal cases while still providing information needed to investigate crimes and keep the nation secure.

Press Forward We applaud the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s commitment to advocating for community newspapers, freedom of the press and open government.

We are honored to continue serving as a resource in these valuable efforts.

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